Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen needs to overcome a lack of ‘tactical nous’ in order to succeed this season, according to League One Lowdown host Tom Woods.

The Owls have enjoyed a steady start to the season and are currently in the midst of a eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions. However, their last three league outings have all ended level.

This has seen Pedersen’s side fall out of the top six, whilst they had to rely on a 98th minute penalty from Jamal Lowe on Saturday to secure a 2-2 draw with promotion rivals Huddersfield Town. They’ve also slipped four points behind leaders Plymouth Argyle, although the Pilgrims have played two games more.

Pedersen Approach Questioned

Although they remain in a strong position, Pedersen appears to be under increasing pressure from the supporters. With the club now rid of the shackles of previous owner Dejphon Chansiri, there was a firm belief prior to the start of the season that the good times are on the cusp of returning to Hillsborough.

Rightly labelled as one of the favourites for promotion, many hold the opinion that now may be the right time to switch things up in the dugout. This has not been helped in recent weeks by reports that former Stockport County boss Dave Challinor has set his sights on the position should a change be made in the coming weeks.

Speaking on this week’s episode of League One Lowdown, host Tom Woods voiced his concerns over the current situation:

“I think I’m going to double down on my (Sheffield) Wednesday criticism, which is I went back and looked at all the subs (against Huddersfield). They’re all like-for-like changes. There’s no real massive change of shape there.

“It’s all midfielder for midfielder, winger for winger. It’s all, ‘okay, you don’t like (Kieran) Morrison, how about (Davis) Keillor-Dunn? This guy’s not doing it, how about Jaden Heskey coming on?’

“The names are incredible. Lots of really, really good players. There’s no tactical setup really outside of your basic 4-2-3-1. There’s no discernible, ‘oh, this is what they’re trying to do’ consistently, but sometimes it’s good to have a bit variation and a bit of identity.”

“Barely A Plan A”

It’s this variation that may need to be applied in their upcoming fixtures. Wednesday appear to have a streak of winnable games on the horizon, starting with Saturday’s visit of AFC Wimbledon. They then face two successive away outings at Notts County and Doncaster Rovers before finishing the month back at Hillsborough against Cambridge United.

Asked by co-host Jamie Johnson as to whether Pedersen doesn’t have a Plan B, Tom responded:

“I barely think there’s a Plan A. 

“Other than put good players in a shape that they should broadly understand, and they will do well. It’s not a bad plan but I don’t see Pedersen having any kind of tactical nous, or at least if he has, we haven’t really seen it.

“The point you’re making is that there’s not a Plan B?” 🤔

“I barely think there’s a Plan A!” 😳@tomwoods35 and @JJohnson_16 break down Sheffield Wednesday’s recent difficulties.#swfc pic.twitter.com/kL9Yy2aXnz

— Lowdown Media (@FBLowdownMedia) October 12, 2026

“He knows when to make the changes. He knows when good player A is not doing well, it’s time for good player B, but if he didn’t have so many good players, I don’t think it will go quite as well.”

Despite that, Tom finished off the conversation by claiming he still believes Wednesday are looking good for a strong promotion push:

“Wednesday will be up there because of the quality of those players is actually incredibly high, but there is a ceiling when you have a manager who I don’t rate that highly.”